Identification of critical success factors for international direct dialing business in Sri Lanka

Abstract:

The main purpose of this study is to identify critical success factors of IDD business in Sri Lanka and recommend appropriate policies to develop the business in sustainable manner.
The study was carried out through an opinion survey and a situational analysis. The opinion survey was carried out with three main stake holders of the business namely, users, service providers and policy makers. Interview based data collection method was used to determine factors related to service providers and policy maker.
The situational analysis shows availability of a fierce competition among service providers. The business has a great potential to grow with recent developments in Tourism and BPO industries. Growth in foreign direct investments and foreign employments are positive contributors of the business. The growth of internet based communication technologies and the broadband penetration in the country are the most challenging threats to the business. User survey suggests that technological and economical factors are critical for consumers in IDD sector. Two main user segments are identified in Sri Lankan context. The Business user segment generates 80 percent of the total IDD revenue while it is 20 percent in size.
The study suggests that service providers should mainly focus on implementing a dynamic and accurate billing system, maintaining an appropriate call quality level and educating users with specific information regarding new services and products. Policy makers should mainly focus on controlling the competition at sustainable level. They should interfere to reduce international bandwidth costs and create an induced environment for product development.
IDD service is a basic telecommunication requirement for many businesses today. Further IDD is vital for growth of some businesses such as BPO and KPO. Therefore results of this study may facilitate IDD business in Sri Lanka to further perform better and to increase contribution to the Sri Lankan economy.
Key Words: IDD Business, Sri Lanka, Critical Success factors, Telecommunication, User segments